Two of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, have carried out operations in the Western Pacific simultaneously for the first time, also marking the first time Chinese aircraft carriers have crossed the second island chain, national security officials said today.
The move signals China’s ability to demonstrate control, establish strategic presence and block maritime and air traffic across the island chains to pressure all parties in the region, they said.
China’s increased military presence in the Indo-Pacific region has drawn attention from the US, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Graphic by Taipei Times
On June 7, Japan’s Ministry of Defense reported a sighting of the Liaoning in the waters near Minamitori, the Pacific island marking Japan’s easternmost territory.
Two days later, the Shandong was spotted north of Okinotorishima, Japan’s southernmost island, entering Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and just 1,200 to 1,700 kilometers from Tokyo.
Since May 19, the two carriers have been exerting pressure across the island chains, with each carrier fleet progressively joined by more warships and supply vessels, officials said.
The Liaoning has been conducting military exercises in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, including aircraft takeoff and landing drills, maritime patrols, tailing and monitoring activities and simulated attacks on foreign aircraft and ships, they said.
On June 6 and 7, Japan protested after a PLA aircraft came dangerously close to a Japanese anti-submarine aircraft, they added.
Meanwhile, the Shandong carrier group carried out military drills from the northeast of the Philippines to the southwest islands of Japan, before returning to its home port via the Philippines’ Balintang Channel and the South China Sea, they said.
The scope of these latest deployments and exercises far exceed the need of access/area-denial (A2/AD) operations or homeland defense, officials said.
This signals the PLA wishes to expand its military presence and strategic reach into the third island chain, they said.
Beijing seeks to establish dominance following the Shangri-La Dialogue, held May 30 to June 1, after which the US, the EU and multiple nations have repeatedly warned of the increased threat from China’s expanding military presence in the Indo-Pacific region, they added.
The deliberate choice of location, from the East China Sea to the Yellow Sea, from the South China Sea to beyond the second island chain, aims to force neighboring countries to reconsider their policies towards China, including their security cooperation alliances, they said.
Beijing strongly opposes any alliances between democratic nations, exemplified by China’s combat readiness patrols on June 19 and 20 in response to navy vessels from countries including the UK conducting freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait on June 12 and 18, they said.
China's retaliation included over 70 aircraft conducting military intimidation of Taiwan and strongly-worded statements issued by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of National Defense, they added.
The PLA’s latest drills also coincide with heightened tension in the Middle East, showing China is keen to project military power in the Indo-Pacific region to alleviate pressure on its allies, including Iran, the officials said.
South Korea has recently expressed concern over large Chinese installations in the Yellow Sea, while Japan has also protested China’s constructions in the East China Sea along the China-Japan maritime border, they said.
China has recently accelerated its policies to treat the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait as part of its own territory, which is only set to continue, officials warned.
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